Post by Birgitta on Jun 25, 2009 8:01:15 GMT -5

John Peebles handed over a lovely picture of his daughter - smiling, shining, hopeful. It was the most recent photo he could provide of Leah Peebles, 24.

Albuquerque police Detective Ida Lopez placed it on her pile, another face among the hundreds reported missing in May 2006.

Clean-looking young woman. Petite. Pretty. Pale.

That's not at all what Leah Peebles likely looks like now.

That's hard for a dad to hear.

Leah has become the most recent addition to Lopez's "girls" - a select group of 16 women who were last seen alive in Albuquerque and whose cases, all reported since 2001, are distinguished by the combination of prostitution, drug addiction and, probably, a miserable anonymity.

That's hard for a dad to hear, too.

But John Peebles is willing to hear more; willing to hear anything just to know Leah is alive.

"Not knowing is the hardest part," he said. "Even if I hear her say `I hate your guts,' that's fine. Call us and tell us that you hate us. We believe she's in a position where she can't (call) or whoever has her isn't allowing her."

It's possible, Lopez said, that Leah has found herself with a violent pimp and can't make a connection with her family. Some girls, the detective adds, have had run-ins with some nasty men, and she suspects some might still be in such situations.

It's also possible that Leah hitched a ride with a trucker to El Paso or California or some unknown town.

It's also possible Leah is dead. Lopez asks for DNA samples from the families of missing women, which are kept on hand for comparison to Jane Doe bodies found anywhere in the nation. Suspicion of foul play is listed on nearly all missing persons reports involving these women, because of what Lopez says is a high-risk lifestyle.

John Peebles winces at this grim range of fates, left to only wonder which one has consumed his daughter.

But he refuses to wait for a terrible phone call.

Instead, Peebles and his wife, Leah's mother Sharon, traveled to Albuquerque from their home in Forth Worth, Texas, earlier this week. It was the family's sixth trip to search the city's streets for their daughter.

Neither Leah nor her parents seem to fit there.

After all, Leah grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. The couple - dad, a helicopter mechanic; mom, a homemaker and florist - have been married for 28 years.

Sharon Peebles kept Leah sheltered, but she couldn't keep the world from intruding in a vicious way. Family members say Leah was molested by a distant relative while a young child. She was sexually attacked at the age of 14, her parents said, by an acquaintance.

At that point, the parents said, Leah's future was bruised, if not broken.

In that way, Lopez said, she shares a similarity with other missing women, almost all of whom survived some sort of assault and then became involved with drugs and alcohol.

The wholesome-looking, blonde cheerleader started using drugs, harder and more potent ones as her high school years progressed. When Leah was 18, her parents sent her to a Christian counseling camp. But fresh out of rehab and back at home in Fort Worth, she relapsed into addiction.

With hope that new surroundings would mean a new beginning, Leah moved to Albuquerque with some family friends.

Though a skilled hairstylist, Leah pursued a job at the Flying Star restaurant in Nob Hill, where she fit in with young bohemians and funky hipsters.

"When I left her (in Albuquerque) last May, we had a great parting. She was in good spirits and things were good between us," John Peebles said.

Two weeks later, she didn't return from a date and had slipped into the city's shadows.

On May 22, the father contacted Lopez, the Police Department's dedicated, albeit only, missing person's detective.

Lopez helped them put together a missing person's flier using the picture John Peebles provided of Leah with highlighted light brown hair, clear bright skin and a shiny-lipped smile.

APD receives about 125 reports a month on adults who are reported missing. Most turn up on their own, having been on a binge or an adventure. Lopez contacts many who say they don't want to be found for whatever reason and don't want their families to know.

She tells concerned family, including the Peebles family, that this might be the case with Leah.

John and Sharon don't want to hear it. They want to find their daughter and bring her home.

But the the group of women Lopez calls "my girls" are especially problematic in tracking down.

They've been handed a "hard lot in life" and live their life hard, she said.

Some are from families who don't know how to care enough to report them missing and then follow through with updates, DNA samples and other information.

Clearly, that does not describe the Peebles family. They've dedicated a MySpace.com page to Leah and their own MySpace pages to pleas for help. They've written to Albuquerque police Chief Ray Schultz and city councilors and Mayor Martin Chavez.

Of the missing women in Lopez's group, only two others, Darlene Trujillo and Evelyn Salazar, have had family members reach out to the community for help.

Families often find it hard to believe their missing loved one is involved with prostitution and drugs.

But Lopez knows otherwise. Credible tips often lead her to local truck stops, where women sell sex for drugs. Some of those women tell the detective they've seen Leah.

On Tuesday, Sharon and John Peebles prayed - then hit the spots that have turned up good leads in the past: homeless shelters, a truck stop, the area around Expo New Mexico.

They handed out T-shirts they made up with a big picture of Leah and their cell phone number.

"In case someone doesn't want to call police," Sharon Peebles said.

"She's not in trouble; she is well loved. We just want to tell her we love her," the mother said to a group of homeless people gathered around her at St. Martin's Hospitality Center Downtown looking at the T-shirts she's passing out.

One well-spoken, semi-toothless woman named Beth said she recognized the girl on the T-shirt.

"Those eyes. Those eyes look familiar," Beth told Sharon.

The woman thinks she saw Leah near Central Avenue and Wyoming Boulevard. The Peebles family has come to know the tip well; the intersection is well-known for prostitution and drug availability.

One man at the TA Travel Center truck stop near the Big-I told the Peebles he recognized Leah from a cafe in El Paso.

A believable tip?

Hard to say. John and Sharon, from a comfortable life in the shelter of a Christian community, aren't sure what to believe.

The father's tenderness and desperation have been easily recognized by those on the streets; in his first few trips to Albuquerque, he was an easy mark for the drug addicts and homeless people he was mining for information.

"One guy said he hit her in the neck with a shot of heroine and that she was under the bridge," he said, remembering one of his first trips to Albuquerque. He gave the man $30.

"Your heart," he said, "goes pitter-pattering."

Peebles went crawling under the foul-smelling bridge. No Leah.

Other possible sightings have seemed more reasonable. One prostitute told him that she recognized the girl in the picture and that she had cut her hair.

The father said he knew that tip was real.

A group of tips pointed to the possibility that Leah was with a violent pimp.

Peebles spent that night on a previous trip in a nearby hotel dozing off behind a pair of binoculars watching for a glimpse of his baby girl wandering between the semis.

No luck.

On Friday, John and Sharon tracked down leads they got from a methadone clinic where a client said they knew Leah as "Pebbles" and that she's often seen at a 7-Eleven in Nob Hill.

They walked the nearby streets Friday, peeking in yards and talking to countless strangers.

John and Sharon said they vow to "exhaust every avenue until we have no more to exhaust."

Lopez, too, is putting force behind finding Leah and her other girls.

She said she believes Leah has surfaced to law enforcement twice.

Shortly after she was reported missing, Lopez was driving near Candelaria Road and Fourth Street Northwest when she saw a young woman walking. Though the girl did not look like the Leah in the picture provided by her father, Lopez's instinct told her to check the girl out.

By the time she made the U-turn, the girl was gone.

Lopez later acquired more pictures from the family, including a mug shot from Leah's 2006 arrest in Fort Worth on drug charges.

"That was her. I know it was," Lopez said. "That's why I always tell them (the reporting person) that it's not a judgment call but I need the right information."

John Peebles now has provided more pictures. Leah's hairstyling skills are obvious in her many looks - some with a modest bob, others with short spiked black or red hair.

It was likely one of the grungier looks that Albuquerque police noticed in a prostitute they stopped this February or March near Central and Wyoming.

"She didn't have any drugs on her and she was on her own," Lopez said, adding that she told the family that Leah doesn't seem under someone's control during their trip earlier this week.

That possibility allays some fears for the Peebles family, who've fretted over the idea that their daughter is being hurt by someone who won't let her go.

It also kills a bit of hope. If Leah were under someone's control, then there is a reason she hasn't called her parents. If she's on her own, her unwillingness to communicate becomes more confusing - and heartbreaking.

The search has strained the Peebles family bank account, their bodies and their time. They walk the streets of a foreign city, wondering, wishing, hoping for that one miraculous glance of the girl they love.

"She probably thinks we're better off not knowing, less trouble to us," Sharon Peebles said, rifling through a a new batch of missing persons posters. "But that's not true. Being in the dark is what we can't deal with."

"We're starting to come to terms with that, that she might not want to be found," John Peebles said.

It's a hard fact for him to hear. It's even harder because he's the one saying it.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Jun 25, 2009 8:03:40 GMT -5

Leah Peebles, age 24, was last seen on May 22, 2006 around 8:00 p.m. in the 2100 block of Erbbe St in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has not been seen or heard from since. Leah was last seen wearing blue jeans, t-shirt and sandles. Leah has two black tattoos.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Jun 25, 2009 8:04:04 GMT -5

Leah left Fort Worth, Texas for Albuquerque, New Mexico May 5, 2006 to live temporarily with some friends. She left the home of those friends around 8:00 p.m. May 22, 2006 to meet a man for a date.

She has not been seen by friends or family since leaving the home of her friends.

Leah has had a life filled with hurts and bumps in the road. She moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico hoping to get a fresh start at life. After arriving in Albuquerque, she told her parents that she was going to be working at the Flying Star Caf. She had also met a woman who introduced Leah to her cousin, the man she went on a date with. When Leah didnt return to her friend?s home, her parents were called. They tried to reach Leah but could not. Additionally, Leah left a voice mail message with the friends and told them she was okay. She told them some things had happened and she would call them later. She never did.

Leahs parents were able to check her cell phone messages and found that Leahs car had been wrecked and was abandoned. The car was at M C Transmissions, on General Stilwell Street NE, in Albuquerque, NM. Leahs family has made numerous trips to Albuquerque, but has not received any positive leads. According to one of the local shelters, Leah was seen with an individual nicknamed "AJ".

Leah has two black tattoos: between her shoulder blades and at her lower back. The one at her lower back is a celtic cross. The one between her shoulder blades is sort of a flower tattoo. We found a similar one at www.tattoofinder.com called a "folial."

At this time, there are no positive leads with the Albuquerque police department. After the initial missing person report was filed, a supplemental police report was filed on August 23, 2006 indicating there may have been some foul play regarding Leah Peebles whereabouts.

Leah was 23 when she disappeared. Her 24th birthday in January passed with no news of her. We are trying to help spread the news about Leah in the hopes that her story can be picked up and she can be found.

In addition to the magazine feature, a special poster was made for Leah and can be downloaded from the Project Jason website.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Jun 25, 2009 8:06:05 GMT -5

An unidentified man resident of the community surveys the scene where human remains continue to be discovered on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 along the southwest outskirts of Albuquerque, N.M. Once the site of a halted residential subdivision, investigators and forensics experts have cordoned off the area as a crime scene where the remains of at least 13 bodies have been discovered.The grisly discovery has opened up dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.(AP Photo/Sergio Salvador) Associated Press

Workers excavate a crime scene Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 along the southwest outskirts of Albuquerque, N.M. Once the site of a new residential subdivision, investigators and forensics experts have descended on the cordoned-off the area where the remains of at least 13 bodies have been discovered. The grisly discovery has opened up dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.(AP Photo/Sergio Salvador) Associated Press

Experts examine a crime scene Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 along the southwest outskirts of Albuquerque, N.M. Once the site of a new residential subdivision, investigators and forensics teams have descended on the cordoned-off the area where the remains of at least 13 bodies have been discovered.The grisly discovery has opened up dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.(AP Photo/Sergio Salvador) Associated Press In the desert outside Albuquerque, hikers have sometimes stumbled upon human remains partially buried under the hardy scrub and hard-baked dirt.But few people could have imagined the crime scene now emerging: The bones of at least 13 people have been uncovered on the site of an abandoned housing development.

The grisly discovery last month caused authorities to reopen dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.

Since the bones came to light, forensic experts, detectives, anthropologists and medical investigators have raked tediously through mounds of dirt for the next sliver of bone or clump of human hair.

Police believe one person or group of people is responsible for the slayings, but they have been reluctant to make comparisons to any existing serial murder cases.

"We don't want to limit our investigation," Police Chief Ray Schultz said, calling the scene "one of the largest and most complex" ever investigated by his department.

So far, only two sets of remains have been identified. But detectives are reviewing cases involving dozens of women who vanished from the city over the last two decades. All of them were suspected of being drug addicts and prostitutes. Of particular interest are 16 women reported missing between 2001 and 2006.

The two bodies identified so far were Michelle Valdez and Victoria Chavez, both women who disappeared within months of each other in 2004.

Chavez was about 28 when she vanished, leaving behind a daughter. Valdez was 22, with two children and another on the way.

Valdez's mother, Karen Jackson of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, said her daughter struggled with addiction and worked as a prostitute during periods when she would disappear without any explanation. But she would always resurface to get a hug or money from her father, share a laugh with her sister or call her mom.

Valdez's body and that of her fetus were unearthed Feb. 23. No cause of death has been determined.

Jackson said she was devastated to learn her daughter's fate after years of silence and searching.

"I wanted closure, but not this," she said. "My heart goes out to the rest of the families of the missing women."

The family of Leah Peebles, who is on the list of 16 missing women, is devastated by the discovery but holding out hope.

"I don't think she's out there. I really don't," Peebles' mother, Sharon Peebles, said from her home in Texas. "I have fear and start worrying ... but until I hear otherwise, I feel she is alive."

Leah Peebles, 24, moved to Albuquerque just months prior to her disappearance. She was trying to start a new life free of drugs and the history of sexual molestation and assault that haunted her in her hometown. Her parents reported her missing in May 2006.

The first remains were discovered Feb. 2, when a woman walking her dog found a human rib bone on the site of a subdivision under construction.

The area had been abandoned when homebuilder KB Home ended its operations in New Mexico, leaving a cinderblock wall surrounding mounds of dirt, a drainage pond and a few retaining walls.

Before construction crews left the site in early 2008, many of the bones were damaged by earth-moving equipment that scattered the remains across 100 acres surrounding the concentrated burial site.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

But few people could have imagined the crime scene now emerging: The bones of at least 13 people have been uncovered on the site of an abandoned housing development.

The grisly discovery last month caused authorities to reopen dozens of cold cases involving missing prostitutes, some of whom vanished as much as 20 years ago.

Since the bones came to light, forensic experts, detectives, anthropologists and medical investigators have raked tediously through mounds of dirt for the next sliver of bone or clump of human hair.

Police believe one person or group of people is responsible for the slayings, but they have been reluctant to make comparisons to any existing serial murder cases.

"We don't want to limit our investigation," Police Chief Ray Schultz said, calling the scene "one of the largest and most complex" ever investigated by his department.

So far, only two sets of remains have been identified. But detectives are reviewing cases involving dozens of women who vanished from the city over the last two decades. All of them were suspected of being drug addicts and prostitutes. Of particular interest are 16 women reported missing between 2001 and 2006.

The two bodies identified so far were Michelle Valdez and Victoria Chavez, both women who disappeared within months of each other in 2004.

Chavez was about 28 when she vanished, leaving behind a daughter. Valdez was 22, with two children and another on the way.

Valdez's mother, Karen Jackson of Myrtle Beach, S.C., said her daughter struggled with addiction and worked as a prostitute during periods when she would disappear without any explanation. But she would always resurface to get a hug or money from her father, share a laugh with her sister or call her mom.

Valdez's body and that of her fetus were unearthed Feb. 23. No cause of death has been determined.

Jackson said she was devastated to learn her daughter's fate after years of silence and searching.

"I wanted closure, but not this," she said. "My heart goes out to the rest of the families of the missing women."

The family of Leah Peebles, who is on the list of 16 missing women, is devastated by the discovery but holding out hope.

"I don't think she's out there. I really don't," Peebles' mother, Sharon Peebles, said from her home in Fort Worth, Texas. "I have fear and start worrying ... but until I hear otherwise, I feel she is alive."

Still, after two other women on the list were found in the desert, it's getting harder for Peebles and her husband to keep the faith.

"I want some conclusion, but I don't want that," she said.

Leah Peebles, 24, moved to Albuquerque just months prior to her disappearance. She was trying to start a new life free of drugs and the history of sexual molestation and assault that haunted her in her hometown. Her parents reported her missing in May 2006.

The first remains were discovered Feb. 2, when a woman walking her dog found a human rib bone on the site of a subdivision under construction.

The area had been abandoned when homebuilder KB Home ended its operations in New Mexico, leaving a cinderblock wall surrounding mounds of dirt, a drainage pond and a few retaining walls.

Before construction crews left the site in early 2008, many of the bones were damaged by earth-moving equipment that scattered the remains across 100 acres surrounding the concentrated burial site.

The tedious police work at the site has been creeping along seven days a week, drawing curious spectators from nearby neighborhoods.

Schultz said a task force of 40 detectives is checking leads and reviewing missing-persons reports.

"Everyone has taken a personal stake in this," he said. "We don't think anybody is a throwaway person."

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Jul 5, 2009 12:04:45 GMT -5

Where is Leah Peebles?by Rico MartínezNews+Media Posted on: 08/02/07

In May of last year, some good friends told me of a house-guest coming from Texas. They described Leah, a young woman who had struggled with drugs and alcohol, worsened by a rough relationship she was leaving. She was hoping to benefit from some peaceful time with trusted friends.

I met Leah briefly and found her to be a smart and pretty young woman with bright eyes, enthusiastic about her new situation. I asked her, "So you're leaving a tough situation, huh?" She sighed and responded, "That's putting it lightly."

Leah was looking forward to starting a new job at the Flying Star. She met a woman who introduced her to someone named Johnny Robinson. On May 22, 2006, she told her friends she was going out on a date with him.

Leah never came home that night. Her car was later found abandoned.

Her parents have made information-gathering visits to Albuquerque. They've visited shelters and truck stops, and eventually introduced themselves to several hookers. That's where they found out the most information.

Some working girls told Leah's parents they had seen her working under the name Mia. Even more troubling, they learned she was working for a man known on the street as AJ, which they later learned was an alias for Donald Sears.

The women told Leah's parents that AJ was keeping her supplied with crack in order to make money from her. They said she now looked like an older and thinner version of her pictures, and that AJ was no one to be messing with.

Leah's father came back to Albuquerque a few months ago, but was unable to find anything new on his daughter. He visited the truck stop where she was known to work, but was unable to uncover anything new.

Post by Birgitta on Aug 30, 2009 2:50:29 GMT -5

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Crews from America's Most Wanted were in Albuquerque Saturday to work on a case that involves a missing woman from Fort Worth.

Leah Peebles, 26, disappeared in May 2006 after coming to Albuquerque from her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

The Fox crime show took and interest in Peebles' story because of her father's mission to track her down.

"Her dad travels to Albuquerque frequently just to look for clues. He's come here nine times. He's spent tens of thousands of dollars in his search and his heart is broken," show producer Jenna Naranjo said.

The story of Leah Pebbles' disappearance will air this fall during an episode of America's Most Wanted.

Leah Peebles had moved to Albuquerque seeking a fresh start away from the drug addiction lifestyle that had consumed her in Fort Worth.

"I looked at her and said: 'Please. Please. Whatever you do, if it gets bad, just call us. Don’t ever leave again and not let us know what you’re doing, even if you’re at the worst of the worst,’ " John Peebles said, recounting his goodbye at a New Mexico airport. " 'Just call us and let us know you’re alive.’ "

Although Leah told her father that he’d be better off not knowing, she made him the promise — but only at his insistence.

That was 3 1/2 years ago, the last time John Peebles set eyes on his firstborn.

"I wish I’d never left her. It haunts me every day. That’s been the hardest thing for me to deal with," John Peebles said, pausing to regain his composure. "I could see how scared she was. I wish I hadn’t left her."

Since then, John and his wife, Sharon, have devoted their lives, time and money to finding Leah, now 26, and bringing her back home to Fort Worth.

John Peebles has made roughly a dozen trips to Albuquerque and beyond, searching homeless shelters, truck stops and strip clubs, desperate to find signs of his daughter. The couple expanded their search to the Internet, sharing their painful story on blogs in the hope that someone who has seen Leah will read it.

"People ask me why I keep doing it," John Peebles said. "I talk to a lot of people who have missing children, and they don’t do what I do, but we share a lot of the same fears and the same hopes. I guess the thing that has just always been in my head is the story in the Bible about the lost sheep and the shepherd who left the 99 to go after the one. That’s why I do it."

Sharon Peebles said, "If it were one of our other children, we’d do the same thing."

To search for his daughter, John Peebles uses holidays, vacation time and sick leave from his job manufacturing helicopter rotors at Bell Helicopter. Sharon Peebles, a floral designer at TCU Florist, has accompanied him on two of the trips and their two sons, Phillip and Seth, on another.

The Peebleses say Phillip, 23, and Seth, 18, have gone through different emotional stages in dealing with their sister’s disappearance.

"I think they resent her. They’re angry, either that or they’re just numb," John Peebles said. "They’d just as soon put it all away and not even talk about it anymore or think about it."

It’s a feeling their parents can understand.

"Sometimes for a few hours, I might be angry at her, like, 'Why hasn’t she contacted us?’ " Sharon Peebles said. "But the love overrides that."

A rapid decline

Even in baby pictures, Leah’s smile is eye-catching.

At 1 1/2 — at her grandmother’s insistence — she was entered into her first and only beauty pageant, winning third runner-up in her age division and claiming the title "Ms. Photogenic."

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Oct 29, 2009 14:28:57 GMT -5

Leah Rachelle Peebles

Above Images: Peebles, circa 2006

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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

# Missing Since: May 22, 2006 from Albuquerque, New Mexico # Classification: Endangered Missing # Date of Birth: January 16, 1983 # Age: 23 years old # Height and Weight: 5'4, 105 pounds # Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes. Peebles may dye her hair black, red or blonde; she enjoys styling it in different cuts and colors. She wears eyeglasses and contact lenses, but at the time of her disappearance she was only carrying one two-week disposable pair of contacts. Peebles's ears are double-pierced and her left upper lip is pierced. The upper part of her right ear has been previously pierced and she has a scar from a previous piercing on her right nostril and a possible piercing scar on her left eyebrow. She has the following tattoos: a scrolled flower design on her upper back in black ink and a Celtic cross in black ink on her lower back. Peebles may use the first name Mia. # Clothing/Jewelry Description: Thicker gauged steel hoop earrings. Clothing unknown, but she usually wears t-shirts, jeans and sandals. Peebles normally carries a purse containing her cellular phone and Texas driver's license. # Medical Conditions: Peebles has a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

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Details of Disappearance

Peebles moved from Fort Worth, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 5, 2006. She was temporarily residing with friends in the vicinity of the 2100 block of Erbbe Street northeast when she disappeared on May 22, 2006. She left the home to go on a date with a man she'd met at the Flying Star Cafe, where she planned to start working the following week. Peebles never returned and has never been heard from again. Her vehicle was later found abandoned.

Peebles grew up in a middle-class, Christian home in Fort Worth. Her parents stated she was molested by a distant relative as a toddler and raped by an acquaintance she was fourteen. She was initially a good student at Carter-Riverside High School and active in cheerleading, drama and the yearbook staff, but by her sophomore year she had begun abusing drugs and alcohol and dropped out of her extracurricular activities. When she was eighteen, her parents put her in the Fort Worth Teen Challenge, a Christian residential drug and alcohol treatment facility for women. She stayed in the program for 21 months, graduated from cosmetology school and took a job at a salon, but soon relapsed and began using a variety of illegal drugs. She was convicted on drug charges twice and served two short jail sentences. She was fired from her job at the salon after the second arrest, as her drug use had made her an unreliable employee. Peebles's parents wanted her to return to the drug rehabilitation program, but she decided to move to Albuquerque instead. She hoped to get a new start in life, make new and better friends, and discontinue her previous drug and alcohol use.

After Peebles disappeared there were sightings of her reported in the Albuquerque area. The witnesses reported Peebles was calling herself "Mia" and working as a prostitute for a pimp called A.J. who supplied her with crack cocaine. Police questioned A.J. after he was arrested in Bakersfield, California and he said he'd never heard of Peebles. Her father has made about eleven trips to Albuquerque as well as Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada to search for her. The last credible sighting was in the fall of 2006, and her father believes she may have been sold to a pimp in another city. Her case remains unsolved.

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Investigating AgencyIf you have any information concerning this case, please contact:Albuquerque Police Department505-242-2677

Post by Birgitta on Mar 7, 2010 6:03:08 GMT -5

Leah Peebles Missing PersonLeah Peebles

Leah Peebles

Leah Peebles vanished from Albuquerque, N.M., on May 22, 2006. Her family says she moved to there from Fort Worth in hopes of getting a fresh start. Prior to the move, John says his daughter struggled with drug addiction.

“I’m just a dad looking for my daughter,” John says. “I’m a dad who loves his daughter. I’m a dad who sees the best in his daughter — a dad who remembers all of the good things, and I want that girl back.”

read full article: Leah Peebles Missing Persongather.com

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Post by Birgitta on Apr 4, 2010 15:47:13 GMT -5

A Father's Journey For Answersfugitives,Leah Peebles,Maya | John Peebles has been searching for his missing daughter Leah since 2006 Leah Peebles,Maya | overview

John Peebles has been searching for his missing daughter Leah since 2006.

John Peebles knows some of Albuquerque's toughest neighborhoods by heart. He knows which street corners are occupied by prostitutes and the ones that are reserved for drug dealers.

"I've been a whole lot of places I never wanted to be and seen a lot of things I never wanted to see," he says.

It's not the life John ever envisioned for himself, but he says he has no other choice. While he once spent his free time with his family in the quiet suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas, he now spends most days roaming the streets, looking for his daughter Leah.

Leah Peebles vanished from Albuquerque, N.M., on May 22, 2006. Her family says she moved to there from Fort Worth in hopes of getting a fresh start. Prior to the move, John says his daughter struggled with drug addiction.

"I'm just a dad looking for my daughter,” John says. “I'm a dad who loves his daughter. I'm a dad who sees the best in his daughter -- a dad who remembers all of the good things, and I want that girl back.""I've been a whole lot of places I never wanted to be and seen a lot of things I never wanted to see."

The Tragedy Behind The Tearsfugitives,Leah Peebles,Maya | Leah s appearance was drastically different before she started using drugs Leah Peebles,Maya | overview

Leah's appearance was drastically different before she started using drugs.

Leah was 23 years old when she went missing, but her father says her story starts when she was just a little girl.

When she was 4 years old, Leah told her parents she was molested by a relative. Then as a freshman in high school she was victim to another sickening crime: She told her parents a boy she thought was her friend had raped her.

"At that point, she really started being angry and felt depressed," her father John says.

Leah's life took a dramatic turn, and her family says she found a terrible way to deal with the pain despite her family's efforts to try and help. Leah's look changed dramatically, and so did her actions. Before long, John and his wife Sharon discovered Leah was doing hard drugs and had developed a serious addiction. Leah went in and out of rehab until she finally decided she needed a fresh start.

After moving to Albuquerque to live with friends, Leah seemed to be doing better. But after just a few weeks, she vanished.

That was in 2006. Since then, John has spent nearly every vacation day and holiday in Albuquerque searching the streets for Leah.The Search Continuesfugitives,Leah Peebles,Maya | This is one of several mug shots of Leah Leah Peebles,Maya | overview

This is one of several mug shots of Leah.

John's spent three years roaming Albuquerque’s streets, collecting clues in Leah's disappearance. He put his morals and safety on the line and it paid off. John heard Leah had turned to stripping and prostitution as a way to survive, so he began staking out strip clubs and befriending prostitutes to get more information. John learned Leah was going by a new name -- Maya. He says he also met a few people who had encountered her.

The clues were helpful but not helpful enough. Even today John still has few answers about where Leah might be and even worse: He has no clue whether or not she is alive.

John says he simply wants to know what happened to his daughter and that it's nearly impossible to live without the answers for which he’s so desperately been searching. The Albuquerque Police Department has documented Leah as a missing person.

Police say there are no suspects in her disappearance, but they hope new clues could give them a better idea of where Leah might be. They said even the smallest clue could help them put together a more comprehensive timeline. Police say people like Leah are often hard to find because drug use can drastically change a person's appearance.

Leah is 5 feet 2 inches tall. She could weigh between 100 and 120 pounds. She is a natural blonde but has previously worked as a hairdresser and is known to frequently change her look and her hair color. She has a tattoo of a Celtic cross on her lower back and a flower in between her shoulder blades.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

Details of DisappearanceLeah, also known as Mia, was last seen at approximately 8:00pm leaving a temporary residence in the vicinity of the 2100 block of Erbbe St. NE in Albuquerque, NM to visit a new acquaintance. Leah may frequent truck stops.

Post by Birgitta on Apr 4, 2010 15:55:53 GMT -5

John Peebles handed over a lovely picture of his daughter - smiling, shining, hopeful. It was the most recent photo he could provide of Leah Peebles, 24.

Albuquerque police Detective Ida Lopez placed it on her pile, another face among the hundreds reported missing in May 2006.

Clean-looking young woman. Petite. Pretty. Pale.

That's not at all what Leah Peebles likely looks like now.

That's hard for a dad to hear.

Leah has become the most recent addition to Lopez's "girls" - a select group of 16 women who were last seen alive in Albuquerque and whose cases, all reported since 2001, are distinguished by the combination of prostitution, drug addiction and, probably, a miserable anonymity.

That's hard for a dad to hear, too.

But John Peebles is willing to hear more; willing to hear anything just to know Leah is alive.

"Not knowing is the hardest part," he said. "Even if I hear her say `I hate your guts,' that's fine. Call us and tell us that you hate us. We believe she's in a position where she can't (call) or whoever has her isn't allowing her."

It's possible, Lopez said, that Leah has found herself with a violent pimp and can't make a connection with her family. Some girls, the detective adds, have had run-ins with some nasty men, and she suspects some might still be in such situations.

It's also possible that Leah hitched a ride with a trucker to El Paso or California or some unknown town.

It's also possible Leah is dead. Lopez asks for DNA samples from the families of missing women, which are kept on hand for comparison to Jane Doe bodies found anywhere in the nation. Suspicion of foul play is listed on nearly all missing persons reports involving these women, because of what Lopez says is a high-risk lifestyle.

John Peebles winces at this grim range of fates, left to only wonder which one has consumed his daughter.

But he refuses to wait for a terrible phone call.

Instead, Peebles and his wife, Leah's mother Sharon, traveled to Albuquerque from their home in Forth Worth, Texas, earlier this week. It was the family's sixth trip to search the city's streets for their daughter.

Neither Leah nor her parents seem to fit there.

After all, Leah grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. The couple - dad, a helicopter mechanic; mom, a homemaker and florist - have been married for 28 years.

Sharon Peebles kept Leah sheltered, but she couldn't keep the world from intruding in a vicious way. Family members say Leah was molested by a distant relative while a young child. She was sexually attacked at the age of 14, her parents said, by an acquaintance.

At that point, the parents said, Leah's future was bruised, if not broken.

In that way, Lopez said, she shares a similarity with other missing women, almost all of whom survived some sort of assault and then became involved with drugs and alcohol.

The wholesome-looking, blonde cheerleader started using drugs, harder and more potent ones as her high school years progressed. When Leah was 18, her parents sent her to a Christian counseling camp. But fresh out of rehab and back at home in Fort Worth, she relapsed into addiction.

With hope that new surroundings would mean a new beginning, Leah moved to Albuquerque with some family friends.

Though a skilled hairstylist, Leah pursued a job at the Flying Star restaurant in Nob Hill, where she fit in with young bohemians and funky hipsters.

"When I left her (in Albuquerque) last May, we had a great parting. She was in good spirits and things were good between us," John Peebles said.

Two weeks later, she didn't return from a date and had slipped into the city's shadows.

On May 22, the father contacted Lopez, the Police Department's dedicated, albeit only, missing person's detective.

Lopez helped them put together a missing person's flier using the picture John Peebles provided of Leah with highlighted light brown hair, clear bright skin and a shiny-lipped smile.

APD receives about 125 reports a month on adults who are reported missing. Most turn up on their own, having been on a binge or an adventure. Lopez contacts many who say they don't want to be found for whatever reason and don't want their families to know.

She tells concerned family, including the Peebles family, that this might be the case with Leah.

John and Sharon don't want to hear it. They want to find their daughter and bring her home.

But the the group of women Lopez calls "my girls" are especially problematic in tracking down.

They've been handed a "hard lot in life" and live their life hard, she said.

Some are from families who don't know how to care enough to report them missing and then follow through with updates, DNA samples and other information.

Clearly, that does not describe the Peebles family. They've dedicated a MySpace.com page to Leah and their own MySpace pages to pleas for help. They've written to Albuquerque police Chief Ray Schultz and city councilors and Mayor Martin Chavez.

Of the missing women in Lopez's group, only two others, Darlene Trujillo and Evelyn Salazar, have had family members reach out to the community for help.

Families often find it hard to believe their missing loved one is involved with prostitution and drugs.

But Lopez knows otherwise. Credible tips often lead her to local truck stops, where women sell sex for drugs. Some of those women tell the detective they've seen Leah.

On Tuesday, Sharon and John Peebles prayed - then hit the spots that have turned up good leads in the past: homeless shelters, a truck stop, the area around Expo New Mexico.

They handed out T-shirts they made up with a big picture of Leah and their cell phone number.

"In case someone doesn't want to call police," Sharon Peebles said.

"She's not in trouble; she is well loved. We just want to tell her we love her," the mother said to a group of homeless people gathered around her at St. Martin's Hospitality Center Downtown looking at the T-shirts she's passing out.

One well-spoken, semi-toothless woman named Beth said she recognized the girl on the T-shirt.

"Those eyes. Those eyes look familiar," Beth told Sharon.

The woman thinks she saw Leah near Central Avenue and Wyoming Boulevard. The Peebles family has come to know the tip well; the intersection is well-known for prostitution and drug availability.

One man at the TA Travel Center truck stop near the Big-I told the Peebles he recognized Leah from a cafe in El Paso.

A believable tip?

Hard to say. John and Sharon, from a comfortable life in the shelter of a Christian community, aren't sure what to believe.

The father's tenderness and desperation have been easily recognized by those on the streets; in his first few trips to Albuquerque, he was an easy mark for the drug addicts and homeless people he was mining for information.

"One guy said he hit her in the neck with a shot of heroine and that she was under the bridge," he said, remembering one of his first trips to Albuquerque. He gave the man $30.

"Your heart," he said, "goes pitter-pattering."

Peebles went crawling under the foul-smelling bridge. No Leah.

Other possible sightings have seemed more reasonable. One prostitute told him that she recognized the girl in the picture and that she had cut her hair.

The father said he knew that tip was real.

A group of tips pointed to the possibility that Leah was with a violent pimp.

Peebles spent that night on a previous trip in a nearby hotel dozing off behind a pair of binoculars watching for a glimpse of his baby girl wandering between the semis.

No luck.

On Friday, John and Sharon tracked down leads they got from a methadone clinic where a client said they knew Leah as "Pebbles" and that she's often seen at a 7-Eleven in Nob Hill.

They walked the nearby streets Friday, peeking in yards and talking to countless strangers.

John and Sharon said they vow to "exhaust every avenue until we have no more to exhaust."

Lopez, too, is putting force behind finding Leah and her other girls.

She said she believes Leah has surfaced to law enforcement twice.

Shortly after she was reported missing, Lopez was driving near Candelaria Road and Fourth Street Northwest when she saw a young woman walking. Though the girl did not look like the Leah in the picture provided by her father, Lopez's instinct told her to check the girl out.

By the time she made the U-turn, the girl was gone.

Lopez later acquired more pictures from the family, including a mug shot from Leah's 2006 arrest in Fort Worth on drug charges.

"That was her. I know it was," Lopez said. "That's why I always tell them (the reporting person) that it's not a judgment call but I need the right information."

John Peebles now has provided more pictures. Leah's hairstyling skills are obvious in her many looks - some with a modest bob, others with short spiked black or red hair.

It was likely one of the grungier looks that Albuquerque police noticed in a prostitute they stopped this February or March near Central and Wyoming.

"She didn't have any drugs on her and she was on her own," Lopez said, adding that she told the family that Leah doesn't seem under someone's control during their trip earlier this week.

That possibility allays some fears for the Peebles family, who've fretted over the idea that their daughter is being hurt by someone who won't let her go.

It also kills a bit of hope. If Leah were under someone's control, then there is a reason she hasn't called her parents. If she's on her own, her unwillingness to communicate becomes more confusing - and heartbreaking.

The search has strained the Peebles family bank account, their bodies and their time. They walk the streets of a foreign city, wondering, wishing, hoping for that one miraculous glance of the girl they love.

"She probably thinks we're better off not knowing, less trouble to us," Sharon Peebles said, rifling through a a new batch of missing persons posters. "But that's not true. Being in the dark is what we can't deal with."

"We're starting to come to terms with that, that she might not want to be found," John Peebles said.

It's a hard fact for him to hear. It's even harder because he's the one saying it.

What matter the most is that the missing persons will be found, it doesn´t matter who finds them.

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spunky: I am here in regards to get a Thread started for Jessica Lynn Heering that was KIDNAPPED From Norton Shores, Michigan on April 26, 2013 I don't know how to upload picture here..... Jun 17, 2013 10:47:51 GMT -5

gg: Chioma Grey has been found. She and her captor came back to the United States from Mexico in 2011. Her captor is also her boyfriend who is several years older than Chioma and they went to Mexico until she was 18. This needs to be updated.Oct 11, 2013 16:20:37 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Dear Madan. my name is Deisy k. Adcock and Im writing about my son Timothy Landus Adcock I have taking Landus away from aour home from smithville tenn. because the civil court from smithville tenn. did protect the wrong person, and that was my ex husband Nov 21, 2013 17:04:00 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: I take my child away to protect him from an abusive father, he molested my child on varios ocation , we are talking about sexual phisical , and mental abuseNov 21, 2013 17:05:27 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: I dint have enough evidence to prove this abuse, in civil court of smithville tenn, due to my poor understanding of the laws and the language.'My ex husband now he pass away 2 years ago. and the charges of felony and the warrant have drop.Nov 21, 2013 17:09:04 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Madan it has been a long and painfull road , for Landus and I I did took my son to Honduras where we live I have found protection for him from diferent organizations, like Humans Rights, children rights and others.Nov 21, 2013 17:11:35 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: we have prove with concrete evidence of this horrible abuse, done by Landus father ,I won the case and also the custody of my son Landus it was a horrible ordeal but we prove it that what I did was to protect my child from a secure deathNov 21, 2013 17:14:26 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Now if you can contact the duty agent from the F.B.I. miss. Sheryl.Mcgraw@ic.fbi.gov you will found that the charges of felony and warrant are dropp.Nov 21, 2013 17:17:15 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Madan the sad thing about this ordeal is that because of the lack of evidence my child was giving back to his father this perpetrator cover hymself very well , he was a civil judge pointed by the court of smithville for about 10 years.plushe was a u.s.a. Nov 21, 2013 17:19:37 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: vet.he was under sphychologist, and syquiatric help for about 18 years he was taking a lot of drugs prescriptions and others none prescrive. so imagen I a humble woman with poor understanding of laws and the language was not able to defen my child Nov 21, 2013 17:21:56 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Now madan understand this a few weeks ago , Landus was playing games on the internet and he said to me what it will happen if He write his name on google and he did surprise his name was on the missing children and that took Landus by surpriseNov 21, 2013 17:24:39 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: It has been a nightmare for him. please remove Landus add from the missing list he is not longer a missing child , he is safe from all this terrible injustice .' there is evidence here in Honduras you can call the U.S.A. embassy or the Human Rights.Nov 21, 2013 17:27:30 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Or call or search the webb and found the Honduras Embassy the department of Foreing Affairs cana answer all your questions conserning this case. please Landus deserve justice peace and the oprtunity to put this terrible unjustice on the past. thank you andNov 21, 2013 17:29:47 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Please remove the add as soon as posible the truth is totally diferent of what people have tried to tell , you can call me also at this number 504-98111995Nov 21, 2013 17:32:21 GMT -5

morrisondaisy: Thank you and please pray for us that the truth will always prevail. Best regards Deisy Kronfel AdcockNov 21, 2013 17:33:12 GMT -5

mommaof3: WOW! i just joined in to see if they was any progress on theses older cases and just now remembered about the girl being abducted from Aruba..I was surprisedmto see the comment above...if there is Anything I can do to help besides sending my prayers JLMK!!Dec 10, 2013 3:05:26 GMT -5